Rethinking How You Attract Clients

Many brokers would like more and better clients. But their effort to obtain new clients is often wasted and misplaced. Here are three concepts that can help you attract more and better clients:

Make yourself scarce. We live in a culture where people want what they cannot have. In order for people to want you, you must make yourself scarce. That means you only deal with people who fit your profile (yes, turn away business).

In all marketing you do, communicate that you only deal with a certain segment of people.

Here’s an example. I only deal with people age 60 and over. My firm is called Senior Resources. My business card says “Retiree Investment Management.” I do not deal with people under 60. If my client says, “Can you help my son—he’s 48 and he has some money,” I decline and refer the son to a colleague. By being so picky, my clients refer me to others as “He’s a specialist in dealing with people like us.” No client wants to go to a generalist. They want a specialist. What do you specialize in?

Another example is the broker who specializes in an industry, For example, an ex-engineer who only prospects chemical engineers. He becomes known in that circle, writes a columns for the engineers’ magazine and becomes an invited speaker at conventions. I know a guy who sold hundreds of life insurance polices to United Airlines pilots by visiting their layover facility at major airports. He gave talks to a group of pilots as they were waiting for their next flight.

Be different. Every time you open an account, it’s because you offer something different than the client’s current advisor. Yet most brokers look alike—many do the same activities, offer the same products and services and are indistinguishable from the next broker. Why should the prospect deal with you?

You distinguish yourself from others by crafting your business differently. One way is by focusing on a certain niche as described above and making yourself scarce. Another way is to run your business differently. For example, if most brokers are recommending mutual funds, then you recommend stocks (and have a well researched argument with evidence as to why stocks would be better). If other brokers offer bond funds for fixed income, you offer individual bonds (and have a good presentation as to why individual bonds would be better). If other brokers have no system for selecting stocks, then you specialize in quantitative systems like the Dow Dividend Strategy, Value Line or CANSLIM (as documented by William O’Neill in How to Make Money in Stocks). Show people why “guessing” about stocks is no way to invest and why a structured system brings all-important discipline to the process. If other brokers are raising money for third party money managers, you be the money manager (if you use a structured system, the time it takes to manage portfolios is negligible as the system does the work).

If every one in your office is selling growth stocks, then specialize in precious metals or whatever interests you. Team up with the other brokers in your office and split commissions. They are not talking to their clients about metals and this business will be lost. It would be smart for both of you to split commissions and have him introduce you to his clients (other brokers will bring you business if they you are not competing with them, that you specialize in an area they don’t know about—metals, options, 401k, etc).

Think of the difference when you can give a prospect a copy of your book. Do you think he is more inclined to open an account with you? What about sending information to a referral and you include in the envelope two articles from the daily newspaper in which you are interviewed and one article you authored. Have you increased the probability of that prospect becoming a client?

As you implement your marketing, ask yourself each week how you are being different and distinguishing yourself from every other broker in town. Why will prospects leave their current broker to join you?